Editorial: Federal flotsam

Jobs on the line as new rules threaten to swamp Virginia seafood industry

October 03, 2011

Unemployment in the commonwealth, long below the national average, is now on the rise.

August saw the largest monthly increase in unemployed Virginians in more than two years. For the second consecutive month, according to numbers released in mid-September from the Virginia Employment Commission, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate in the state inched upward — this time from 6.1 to 6.3 percent. That's a trend no one wants to see continue.

The last thing this state needs is a new U.S. Department of Labor rule that could threaten the viability of Virginia's seafood industry. The proposed ruling would require seafood companies that employ seasonal workers to increase wages to as much as $11.00 per hour. That amounts to 50 percent more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The law concerns mostly foreign workers with H-2B visa status, a program that allows migrant workers to fill seasonally labor-intensive jobs across the United States.

That visa program, launched in 1997, provides employers facing a shortage of seasonal workers a legal method to temporarily hire foreign workers. Some of the top industries that utilize the H-2B program are landscaping, lodging, construction, restaurants and — specifically affecting Virginia — seafood processing.

The federal mandate could affect 66,000 of these kinds of jobs — 1,660 of which are in Virginia, mostly crab pickers and oyster shuckers in Hampton Roads.

The rule's effective date, originally scheduled for implementation on October 1, has been postponed until November 30 due to pressure from area lawmakers, including Sen. Mark Warner (D) and Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Westmoreland).

Proponents of the wage change, such as the AFL-CIO union coalition and the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the move would provide an incentive for Americans to take jobs that immigrants now fill because native workers won't take such difficult work at minimum wage.

"For nearly a decade under the Bush Administration, corporations had unbridled power to use the H-2B program to drive down wages and working conditions in the United States," wrote AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a press release.

We couldn't disagree more.

The potential wage increases could price many small businesses out of the marketplace and cost jobs — not make more available.

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) found that workers under the aforementioned program are directly linked to another 2,672 domestic related jobs in the commonwealth —above and beyond those at risk under H-2B.

Additionally, VIMS warned the wage hikes could cost the state around $176 million of economic activity. This is an unacceptable risk to take in a down economy in desperate search of a recovery.

Surrounding states whose economy is partially dependent on the seafood industry have jumped in the fray as well, including Maryland. Even the very liberal Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) — with whom we don't agree on many positions — took exception. Ms. Mikulski fired off a stinging letter to White House Chief of Staff William Daley asking for a stay on the rule, stating that the mandate would devastate her state's crab industry.

It's a matter of economics 101: If the cost of labor outstrips the potential for profit, employers will simply lay off workers — and producers will cease to operate.

The legislation to make the stay indelible must be passed by the full Senate and the House of Representatives, and then signed by President Obama.

We urge Congress and Mr. Obama to perminately abolish this unnecessary rule and let the free market dictate the wages.